Is someone murdering people who know too much about NSA wiretapping overseas?

Two whistleblowers --- one in Italy, one in Greece --- uncovered a secret bugging system installed in cell phones around the world. Both met with untimely ends. The resultant scandals have received little press in the United States, despite the profound implications for American critics of the Bush administration.

Last month, Italian telecommunications security expert Adamo Bove either leapt or was pushed from a freeway overpass; he left no note and had no history of depression. Last year (March, 2005), Greek telecommunications expert Costas Tsalikidis met with a similarly enigmatic end. Both had uncovered American attempts to eavesdrop on government officials, anti-war activists, and private businessmen.

The Bove case relates to the long-standing controversy over the CIA's kidnapping of cleric Abu Omar, who was flown to Egypt and tortured. The post-Berlusconi government of Italy is attempting to arrest and try all of the CIA personnel involved. Bove used mobile phone records to trace more than two dozen American agents.
Bove had also revealed that his employer, Telecom Italia, had allowed illegal "spyware" --- undetectable wiretaps --- to infest Italy's largest communications system. His testimony helped to uncover the unsettling relationship between SISMI chief Marco Mancini and Telecom Italia head Giuliano Tavaroli. (Mancini, recently arrested by Italian investigators, has also come under some suspicion for his possible role in the strange affair of Major General Nicola Calipari, killed by American troops in Iraq.) In the 1990s, Bove had received wide praise for helping to secure convictions of two bosses in the Camorra, Naples' answer to the Sicilian Mafia.

The case of Costas Tsalikidis --- an engineer for Vodaphone, Greece's top telecommunications firm --- offers a similar picture. Tsalikidis discovered an extraordinarily spohisticated piece of spyware within his company's network. The Prime Minister and other top officials were targeted, along with Greek military officers, anti-war activists, various business figures --- and a cell phone within the American embassy itself. This page gives a full list of the targets, very few of whom could be considered as having even a remote connection to terrorism.

The Vodaphone eavesdropping was transmitted in real time via four antennae located near the U.S. embassy in Athens, according to an 11-month Greek government investigation. Some of these transmissions were sent to a phone in Laurel, Md., near America's National Security Agency.

According to Ta Nea, a Greek newspaper, Vodafone's CEO privately told the Greek government that the bugging culprits were "U.S. agents." Because Greece's prime minister feared domestic protests and a diplomatic war with the United States, he ordered the Vodafone CEO to withhold this conclusion from his own authorities investigating the case.

The CEO of Vodaphone in Greece, George Koronias, has --- like Giuliano Tavaroli, his Italian counterpart --- come under the suspicion of having a hidden relationship with American and British intelligence. At least three Vodafone comunications hubs (one expert says the number could be as high as 22) were compromised by the eavesdropping technology. Koronias had reported only two of these bugs, and had failed to alert a watchdog agency of the discovery of further listening devices.

Vodafone is a British company, comparable to Sprint in the United States. Testifying before a Greek parliamentary committee, Koronias insisted that no-one in the U.K. could have had any connection to the ultra-sophisticated spyware.

'Only Ericsson's staff could have set up such a device,' he said. Ericsson furiously countered that Vodafone not only knew about the illegal software but had activated it at the request of British intelligence agents.

Ericsson, the company that produces the software used by Vodafone, issued an announcement clarifying that two types of software were employed for tapping the phone conversations.

The first one employed legally had been developed by Ericsson and had been installed in Vodafone, yet it was not activated. The second software, which was of unknown origins, namely it had not been developed by Ericsson, had been illegally installed in Vodafone’s system to activate the legal software and erase the traces of the phone-tapping.

This is, by any measure, a troubling admission --- especially since Ericsson manufactures many mobile phones used in the United States. Vodaphone insists they were never informed of this "feature" in Ericsson phones, although Ericsson executive Bill Zikou has testified that the company disclosed the truth via its sales force and instruction manuals.

American security expert John Brady Kiesling reveals further details about the bugging devices in Ericsson cell phones:

Built into the Ericsson (Sweden) software that runs the Vodafone (UK-owned) mobile telephony network switching system in Greece, and similar GSM service providers around the world, is a little-known "Legal Interception" software package designed to be used by law enforcement authorities. This software allows incoming and outgoing conversations from allegedly up to 5000-6000 mobile phone numbers to be recorded, on presentation of a valid judicial warrant. [A friend in telecoms claims governments require that telephone companies give law enforcement authorities the capability to monitor up to 5% of active calls as one precondition for an operating license]. However, to unlock and use the eavesdropping package, the company must pay Ericsson a hefty fee (allegedly four million euros). The Greek government allegedly refused to pay this fee, despite its desire for wiretapping capability during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. One reason was that a clear legal basis for such eavesdropping was not yet in place.

Apparently someone persuaded a Vodafone or Ericsson employee with access to the switching network to install a software parasite in at least four and possibly more of the 22 call management centers that Vodafone operates in Greece.

The family of Costas Tsalikidis, the whistleblower who was found hanged in his apartment, does not accept the verdict of suicide. Neither does his fiancée. The Greek press has hinted at further skullduggery:

The prosecutor also visited the lawyer of Taslikidis’ family, Themistoklis Sofos, who announced that his clients will be filing a lawsuit against unknown parties for embezzlement and falsification of documents pertaining to the deceased’s emails. In addition, they will subpoena all those who participated in the much-publicised meeting just before the revelation of the wiretappings; a meeting Vodafone denies ever having taken place.

Perhaps most disturbing of all, Vodaphone had eliminated the spyware from its system before Greek intelligence could conduct an examination. Greek spy chief Ioannis Korantis testified that this move amounted to destruction of evidence.

Are Ericsson cell phones the only ones with the built-in spy technology? We can't be sure. But one thing is certain: When the fellow on TV asks "Can you hear me now?", the person he's addressing may not be the only one who can say yes.

If these Bushco fascists are spying on political figures overseas to this extent,.. just imagine what they are doing to eavesdrop,.. wire tap,.. and blackmail their political opponents here in the good old USA.

Parabolic antennas,.. eavesdropping microphones,.. GPS in cell phones,.. NSA,.. records of,..land phones,.. cells,.. computers,.. ingoing/outgoing communication traffic. Same with media reporters communications traffic. These fascists have no respect for privacy,.. ethics or rule of law. These Rethuglicans don't just have the fix on the voting machines,.. they have the make on the Democratic Party candidates,.. no wonder they win election all the time,.. they have unethically stolen them each and every instance. They may well be spying on their political opponents as they plan and battle for winning an election right here at home.

It's getting soooo obvious, that people like this are murdered, and did not die naturally. I know about 2 people my entire life who died unexpectedly before their time, that's like several decades. Then, you see about 10 Enron-related people die in a year, and then things like this article, it's easy to put 2 and 2 together, we're not idiots. It's just that the MSM doesn't (purposely) link these things together. How many people, your ENTIRE life, do you know that committed suicide? How many people your ENTIRE life do you personally know, who jumped off a bridge?

These people will stop at NOTHING. They pretended that the UK bombing plot was to cause "unimaginable" death, but that is nothing compared to the false flag attack they will pull off if they feel they need it to hold power.

The only question is when they feel they are losing their grip. Will it be when their theft of the 2006 election doesn't go as smoothly as scripted, and millions of Americans actually DO forgo the new episode of LOST to take to the streets on November 8? Or will they just use that as an opportunity to put some of their most vocal and active enemies into camps?

Maybe they will wait until October of 2008 and use it to "cement" their control of government once and for all.

All we have to fear is the Republicans, the DINOs, and the corporate cabal that controls them all.

I was trying to click on the link Ericsson's official response from the article, and oddly, the entire site is down. The google "cache" of the site's homepage didn't want to load either.

Built-in spyware really bothers me. This is a good example of why it should not be in the phones. Ericsson thought they had a handle on it, but someone was able to exploit it for so long undetected. Whose to say the phones themselves can't be exploited as bugs, when no calls are even being made. It seems that there is no safe and secure means of communication anymore. Even US mail can be opened routinely by Dept. of homeland security.

Thankyou for posting this. I have sent out copies of the print version via email along with copies of Brads and WP's articles. If we all send these articles to a few people the information may start to get out.

Use the send page by email function in IE. My personal opinion is that its better to send the whole page rather than a link. It might annoy some people but desperate times call for stronger measures. To my knowledge you cannot do this in Mozilla only IE. Correct me if I'm wrong. The wispering campaign is a great weapon so lets use it before November.

Freedom is under assualt everywhere. Whistleblowers (against the gov't) are especially vulnerable. Even potential whistleblowers should watch out. The US gov't is about to step it up. They already detain protestors in cages, pressure Amazon (and Wikipedia) to drop books like "America Deceived", and start illegal wars based on lies. Soon, another 9/11 will occur (nukes?) and the frightened masses will beg for the 'safety' of One World Gov't.
Final link (before Google Books caves and drops the title):America Deceived - Book

Britain and the United States are both POLICE STATES.
Deception and lies are simply a part of that. Either
country will do ANYTHING to silence their critics, and that includes murdering ANYONE who rejects their fascist policies.
Regards, Dr Les Dove.

President Eisenhower DIRECTLY warned the American people in his farewell address to the nation that the number one single greatest threat to our republic is from within, from the military industrial complex. . . (Read President Eisenhower's last address!) Both Presidents Eishenhower and Kennedy were determined to dismantle and wipe out the CIA and their black ops criminal syndicate. President Kennedy removed the most senior conspirators from their positions --- a few months later, they assassinated our President before the whole world. On November 22, 1963, the legitiate federal government of the United States of America was overthrown in this coup.

Unfortunately, people are so indoctrinated and brainwashed into the Hegalian dialectic paradigm they have created over the last 50 years that people don't recognize that ALL MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES ARE CONTROLLED AND ARE SUBSERVIENT TO THE NEW WORLD FOURTH REICH ORDER NAZI CABAL!! Whether Republicans or Democrats "hold power" in Washington, or any of the political parties in Britain and around the world for that matter, THE NEW WORLD FOURTH REICH FASCIST SOCIALIST ORDER ADVANCES! From Communist China to America, the ultra-powerful wealthy elite control and manipulate all the chess pieces to manipulate the masses. 9/11 --- the Nazis murdered over 3,000 Americans! They murdered 168 people, including many children in a daycare center when they blew up the Murrah building (including the torture and execution murder of Sheriff deputy Tyweaky months later). The massive NAZI getapo assault on the Branch Davidians' home with automatic weapons and military incendiary grenades.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE PROPAGANDA AND DISINFORMATION "CHATTER" COMING FROM THE NAZI PROPAGANDA MACHINE --- They are laying the groundwork to execute an even bigger "9/11" style assault against the American people. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN AND YOUR CAMERAS AND VIDEO CAMERAS CAPTURING ANYTHING REMOTELY SUSPICIOUS, PARTICULARLY AROUND POPULATION CENTERS --- These murderous thugs follow the same spirit and occultic death cult mindset that consumed Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mousolini, Mao, and the most prominent British and American wealthy eltitists. They laid the foundation and initiated both world wars I and II, and have provoked and prolonged most of the world's wars and conflicts throughout the world, including Korea, Vietnam, the establishment of communist tyranny as well as nationalistic fascist SOCIALISM. Learn the real facts of history, and you will understand just how dangerous an enemy the world is facing. The evil of communism and European fascism (which arose out of Britain, Germany and America) did not die with the death of the Darwinian Marxist communist and nationalist Darwinian Marxist fascist socialist thugs --- the poisonous mindset and worldview is even stronger now that before - only now they have the most dangerous technology ever imagined to use against humanity to destroy it.

There is only ONE way to stop the tyranny that now threatens every American ---
1. Remove EVERY INCUMBANT FROM OFFICE
2. Have every state in the union recall their congressmen and senators back to remain in their respective states and conduct business under the auspices and review of their state legislature and governor.
3 VOTE IN ONLY TRULY INDEPENDENT CITIZEN CANDIDATES WHO ARE UNAFFILIATED WITH EITHER THE REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRATIC PARTIES.
4. Restore the rule of constitutional Law over all government throughout the US.
5. Initiate full public investigations into all government activities over the last 60 years, particularly any agency that engaged in espionage, spying and black ops as well as private businesses such as the IRS and the criminal syndicate, the Federal Reserve that has bankrupted the American Republic and turned the wealthiest nation into an impoverished debtor nation unable to recover from it's insurmountable mountain of exponentially increasing debt.
6. Prosecute ALL individuals who engaged in or are continuing to engage in criminal, seditionist and treasoous activities or who has aided in or engaged in sedition and treason to overthrow the Constitutional republic of the United States, including impeachment and removal from office or the bench, PARTICULARLY THOSE INVOLVED IN THE CONSPIRACY TO FORM THE SOVIET-STYLE "NORTH AMERICAN UNION" (the notorious attempt to overthrow the US, Canada and Mexico and impose an unelected and unaccountable New World Fourth Reich fascist Order dictatorship over all three nations. The sovereign people of all three nations must rise up to thwart this threat to their respective nations before the NAZIs secure their grip over the nations with their fast emerging total surveillance fascist police state.

Mike Ruppert, the dysfunctional former LAPD cop who has turned FTW into a money-generating scam funding his latest conspiracy theory, gets his offices broken into, blogs how he won't go into detail about it, then proceeds to go on ad naseum in detail about the break-in, which could have been just garden variety thugs picking on his office....goes on to say how he's had this dysfunctional office going on for months replete with a sexual predator female coming on to him and other staffers, yet never chastises her or does anything to stop it....Ruppert...who grandstands at Gary Webb's funeral trying to make it into 'his' little celebrity fest....yeah, good old Mike Ruppert. His story has so many holes in it, that it should be labeled Swiss cheese. This guy is just another fronting guy trying to make money off of his woes and misteps. There are tons of genuine people out there who've been stiffed, followed, dogged, slammed and defamed by every alphabet soup agency there is, but you don't see them out there pan-handling books, theories about 'peak oil' and trying to get everyone to bankroll their next move out of the country, do you. Nope.... Ruppert at one time may have been 'real' and 'bonafide' but he crossed the line a long time ago, like Al Martin and a host of other 'patriots' on the 'Net. Most of them are bogus. Most of them are shills and shams and most of them should be steered clear from.

Just one more straw on the camel's back that will cause the Second American Reveloution (SAR).Who will be the new George Washington, Neil Young I hope!Any one read the Puzzle Palace in the 1990s? I did, just go forward from that to today and watch the movie "Enemy of the State". And remember the hills have eyes and the walls have ears! Jaye

Lets not be so ignorant as to believe that if the dumbocrats ... as opposed to the repukelicans ... were in power, the world would be such a warm and wonderful place and the constitutional republic would be safe and intact.

Please people. Open your eye's and take off your rose colored glass's. If America was still a republic as the constitution calls for, rather than a democracy that the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution detested ... and the American people would get educated to that fact and know the difference between the two, America would be a little more ... tolerable.

This blog is a complete joke. Nothing but skepticism and cynicism. Every single power that has ever been in existence uses spy tactics to gain information, and you think this is some crazy out of the ordinary thing? The CIA/NSA conduct secret missions that might not be legal, that's in their job description.

So... you guys can keep your absurd and ignorant opinions all you want, good luck convincing the masses that the people they elected are criminals. Some might even take offense to the fact that you are calling the people we elect criminals, as an insult to their intelligence. All I know is that living your whole life thinking everyone is out to get you and the government does nothing but lie cheat and steal is going to get you absolutely nowhere.

Good luck sitting on the sidelines while the rest of us particiate in a very succesful society.

Some form of Lawful Intercept (LI) is part of every telecommunication standard in the world, so there is nothing unusual or wrong with the 'spyware' being installed -It is a federal regulation... (Get used to it!) I believe there is supposed to be a warrant or some such before kicking it off tho...

At least on the account of the Greek Vodafone scandal, this guy makes some serious mistakes, where he states: "This is, by any measure, a troubling admission — especially since Ericsson manufactures many mobile phones used in the United States. Vodafone insists they were never informed of this "feature" in Ericsson phones,...". EVERYBODY PANIC!

BULL! It is not about (Sony) Ericsson phones, there never was "a feature" in Ericsson's phones, it is the Ericsson telephony infrastructure in the mobile operator's hubs that was infected with bugging software.

Moreover he mis-spells "Vodafone" on every occasion. When he says at the end "Are Ericsson cell phones the only ones with the built-in spy technology? We can't be sure. But one thing is certain: When the fellow on TV asks "Can you hear me now?", the person he's addressing may not be the only one who can say yes.", it really made me throw up. Serious reporting? This guy is just a sensation seeker.

Try participating in election reform requiring only that the public has some way of knowing their votes are being counted for three years, and see how much you trust your government afterwards! I felt really good after being allowed to vent my concerns at my first public hearing, and beleived the officials would understand simple concepts. There is something darker then ignorance going on here and the officials better start realizing that the courts will vindicate our suspicions about their motives!

Wow. Suddenly we have three commenters who don't seem to care much that two whistle-blowers got dead under really creepy circumstances. They're more interested in detracting from the main point in their various ways. Spelling errors seem more irksome than prematurely dead men. Wow.

Whoot! As one of the "detractors" I'd like to invite you to re-read the article by mr Cannon and then deny that it is NOT about attracting attention based on the FALSE insinuation you might be using a tampered or at least compromised Ericsson mobile phone. The man insists on this point so much that I kept wondering why nobody else had commented on it. If you're charmed about his in-depth analysis into the deaths of those 2 whistle-blowers, you're easily pleased. Whoot!

If you're so offended by any doubt cast on a mobile phone, whether warranted or not, so as to miss the point of the post, even overlooking that people probably died trying to stop government perfidy, you must be a stockholder with ice water in your veins, rather than just in the herd with the rest of the contented critters being driven to the slaughter house. Still in the herd though, whoot, whoot!

Regarding "America Deceived" It was NEVER available via Amazon or B&N. It was published via "Fast Track" at iUniverse.com (a subsidiary of B&N, btw) IT WAS NEVER BANNED FROM ANYWHERE

The author choose not to have it released via B&N or Amazon per iUniverse. Political motivation or just a cheapskate? You decide.

If you would like, you can call them yourself and ask. The phone number for iUniverse is 1-800-AUTHORS. No, really, call them and ask if it was ever distributed by Amazon or B&N and they will tell you it wasn't as it was a "fast Track" publication.

It is the speculation of this commenter that the author of the previous comment is actually the author of the book looking for some easy publicity via blogs. A google search on "America Decieved" will bring up hundreds of very similary comments, but all have the link to iUniverse in them and the tag line "Final link (before Google Books bends to gov't will and drops the title)".